Intermission
by redex
Summary: Gen, with mild ZukoAang flavours.  AU.  SPOILERS for up to the end of Bk2.  Sometimes all it takes for a change in perspective is a little travel through time and space.


It was a horrible chain of events to start the morning with. The door swung open, bashed Zuko on the knee. The razor in his hand slipped, taking a nick out of his chin. There was a very good reason why he hated his roommate. Aside from the fact that he was the Avatar. 

"Why can't you learn how to knock?!" 

"Sor-ry. Stop taking so long, I need to shave my head."

"It's not like your hair grew overnight - and you're not using my razor, it's unhygienic."

It seemed like every morning was a nightmare worse than any that could come at night. Zuko wasn't a morning person to begin with, but sharing one of these tiny bathrooms while rushing to get ready for school was intolerable. And with the person he least wanted to be stuck spending time with! (Although, truth be told, he really did enjoy spending time with Aang the more he got to know him. He almost wished his honour didn't depend upon capturing and most likely killing him.) To add to the misery, Aang was a morning person. He had explained that it was a monk thing, but when Zuko retorted that sleeping in was a prince thing he had still lost the argument. Unfair. 

And so things seemed to be, over and over again. 

---

At the local high school where they had integrated themselves with the student population, Aang's tattoos were cool and quirky, where Zuko's scar was creepy and a sign of a delinquent waiting to happen. Somehow, Aang was instantly popular with both students and teachers, where Zuko was feared and barely tolerated. He had easily slid into the role they set out for him, giving his temper free reign and ignoring the schoolwork. A few kind souls had attempted to make friends with him, but he had pushed them away over and over again in his frustration, even though he only regretted it and felt badly afterwards.

He just wanted to go home.

And he didn't even know how it had happened. All he remembered was the bright light of the Avatar lighting up the cavern, a sharp pain, a hand on his wrist, an impossible blackness, and then... he had woken up here. 

Where i here /i was, he wasn't entirely sure. When he and Aang got along long enough to discuss it, they had come to a conclusion that they had somehow shifted into another world, though neither of them could remember the last few crucial seconds after Aang went into the Avatar state. At least the Airbender had admitted that he hadn't thought it was Zuko's arm at all - he had thought it was that Waterbender girl's. If Aang's first instinct upon feeling himself pulled through time and space was to grab hold of Prince Zuko it would have made this even more complex than it already was. 

He had spent the first week of their life on the New World panicking, alternating between deep despair and unspeakable frustration. He and Aang agreed to work together long enough to find the doorway back to their world, but no matter how they searched, no matter how they struggled and bent the elements and meditated, nothing seemed to work. The road was closed. Aang even tried to reach the Spirit world, but woke up shaken and quite sure that there were no options there.

So they fell into a regular life, or what passed for one on this strange world. A shopkeeper took them in and put them into the apartment above his shop. It smelt of tea and a strange dark brew called "coffee". Zuko thought he would throw up the first time he woke up to that smell and remembered what had happened. 

No one at the school even knew that Zuko and Aang were living together, just that they had "transferred in" on the same day. To keep up appearances, they left the apartment at different times and avoided each other in classes, when Zuko even went. Sometimes life just left him feeling spent and he couldn't bear to sit in that room full of people who would never understand what he had gone through only to land here. In the middle of the greatest crisis of his life. With only the one person he least wanted to get to know for company.

He had taken up smoking and so he waited outside as the bell rang and everyone else hurried to classes. There was a good spot on the roof where you could sit and not be seen from the street or any of the windows. There were sometimes other people like him who were there when he showed up, but no one showed any signs of talking. He knew that if his uncle knew he was partaking of such an unhealthy and dirty habit he would have been slapped upside the head for even trying it, but thinking about Uncle Iroh just made him want a fag even more. 

Slipping up the side stairs, it was easy to get to the roof without being noticed. Everyone was supposed to be in homeroom by now. Lighting up, Zuko took a drag and let it out in a long sigh. The day was just beginning and he already felt dead. He flicked his silver lighter shut and slid it into the pocket of his uniform jacket. He had picked it up on a whim with his first paycheque and the cigarettes were a good excuse for carrying it around with him everywhere. And it, in turn, was a good excuse for the fires that sometimes erupted wherever he was. He didn't care if he got in trouble with the people who ran this place, sent to however many "councilors" they felt were necessary to figure out his "problems", so long as they didn't find out about his powers. There was no sign of anything like bending on this entire planet; he would be a freakshow, sent to some sort of research facility and locked up. And then Aang would try and do his Avatar thing and save him, and get them both caught and trapped for the rest of their lives in this crazy alternate universe. And wouldn't that be a fucking party. 

Checking his watch, Zuko took one last drag and put out his cigarette underneath his foot. There was no need to miss English Literature, even if the teacher was a complete idiot. Whoever this Shakespeare guy was, even if he had a stupid name he knew what he was talking about, even if the teacher didn't. i Hamlet /i was about revenge and honour, not being in love with some stupid girl! And if she tried to get him to act out a part again he was going to show her what a real sword fight looked like. If only the people around here carried blades. If only he had brought his. He sadly touched the scabbed-over cut on his chin from this morning. 

But "if only"s were a penny a pound right now and if he was caught in the hallways late for class it would be more trouble than it was worth.

---

Even though they were lucky to even have food, let alone good food, a place to sleep, and jobs, Zuko couldn't help but rub his eyes in frustration after another long day in what he liked to mentally call The Crazy World. He had allowed himself to be swept along with the crowd after an uneventful lesson on the role of the Ghost as a symbol and a character and stupidly stayed for a Maths class. The problem was, he didn't i know /i any maths and he didn't like not knowing something that everyone else around him knew. Even the form of counting was completely different from the Home World's circle and line way of counting. They had a different symbol for every number, for heaven's sake! And then they piled them one after another, making lengthy strings which he was then expected to manipulate in unnatural ways. However, he was determined to get it. It couldn't be i that /i hard if all these stupid peasants could do it. 

Even if he had decided not to worry about this stupid school and it's boring teaching methods he was a naturally competitive person and he couldn't bear that Aang was once again beating him without even trying. Even allowing for the fact that they had arrived in the middle of the year, the Avatar was picking up on concepts that until a week ago he wouldn't have believed in his wildest dreams. He just had an annoying capacity to believe anything that was shown to him, no matter how crazy it was. Although he had to admit that it worked. For some things.

Oh, who was he kidding? All he was good at was fighting, firebending, and pouring tea. And even with those three things, he still wasn't the best at any of them. 

He didn't realize he was squeezing his chopsticks too hard until they caught fire between his fingers and Aang let out a surprised yelp. Blinking angrily at himself he opened his palm and let them fall, the flames extinguishing as they left his hand. 

"Sorry," he muttered under his breath, pushing back from the table and leaving the room. He had been doing a lot of that lately. Silently exploding and then equally silently leaving. It was making Aang worried, it made the teachers talk about him in hushed tones, it made the mind-healers in their fussy little offices try to get him to talk about his obvious problems. But what was the point of talking about it? No one could possibly understand, let alone help. The only one he could explain the whole story to was sitting in the next room, probably eating his share of supper in addition to his own. And then he would poke his stupid bald, tattooed head in the door to make sure he hadn't killed himself or something and then go back downstairs to the cafe to work. Of all the ironies in the world, as if Zuko hadn't spent so many hours serving tea that he could identify all common varieties by smell. What was worse, the owner was kind and had a wrinkled old face that made the prince's stomach twist unpleasantly with memories of the person who should have been allowed to just run his tea shop in peace, like this.

Except he had chosen to take care of his nephew instead, throwing everything he had ever wanted to the side for the sake of trying to talk him into reason. 

His throat ached and his eyes pricked and he threw his arm over his face to protect against the glare of the single light. He was choking, drowning in tears. His jaw clenched, but it wasn't enough. The more he thought about it the more he lost control, the more he...

"Zuko?"

When he cursed his voice was harsh and gave him away immediately. Rolling onto his side, facing the window, he could only hope that Aang would respect his privacy for once and leave him alone. But of course, he was the i Avatar /i - he i helped /i people.

When Aang's arrowed hand landed on his shoulder he did the first thing any wounded animal did - lashed out. The flame flew in a sharp arc from his flung-out arm, throwing Aang back only a few steps as he rapidly blocked with a gust of air. And then Zuko realized from the shocked expression on Aang's face that he had revealed himself to be crying and rapidly rolled over again, watching the blurry reflection of his roommate in the window. 

"Just get out, Avatar," he growled, unable to stop the choking gasps that made his shoulders heave. 

"No."

And something recognized that horrible tone of voice that meant that Aang wasn't joking and wasn't going to back down from his decision. That something was both happy and terrified at being found out. 

"Tell me what's wrong. I promise to listen."

A choking laughter forced its way past his lips and he realized that he felt rather hysterical. Another fever? 

"What's _wrong_? Everything's wrong! Everything is _always_ wrong!"

And as if saying it made it true, the tears fell faster and hotter than before. It was like being burnt all over again, all the pain he had ever experienced thrown at him all at once. Aang's fingers were on his face, on his scar, and their foreheads touched. Zuko gasped, too surprised at how close he was to push him away. He could see a reflection of himself in those eyes for one moment, saw how terrified he looked, just before Aang's eyes closed and, as if bidden by an unknown force, his did too. 

He was in his mother's arms, he was screaming at his father, he was kneeling across the fire from his grandfather, he was lighting the lamps for the silly Earth Tribe girl, he was kneeling in front of his father, pleading with him, he was following his uncle out of the royal compound, he was fighting with his sister, he was the Blue Spirit, he was fighting against his sister, he was telling that water tribe girl about his mother, he was leaving his uncle, he was showing the little Earth kid how to use double swords, he was desperate in the North Pole, he was watching his uncle hit by his sister's lightning, he was loosing over and over again while his sister and the Avatar got better and better, he was letting the flying buffalo go, he was making a perfect cup of tea and finally, finally feeling at peace...

And with one long gasping breath he was back to staring at the Avatar's too-close face, shocked tears dripping out of his wide-open eyes as he finally gained the presence of mind to push the smaller boy away from him sharply, though not hard enough to throw him through the wall like he dearly wanted to. 

"What was that?" he hissed, wiping the tears away from his eyes with the edge of his shirt furiously. 

"Uh, an Avatar thing, I guess. I didn't know what I was doing, it just felt right."

It was just like that guy to do something just because "it felt right"! Where was his self-restraint? "Well it didn't feel that good to me!" he snapped, squeezing his eyes shut and turning away so that he didn't have to look at the pity on Aang's face. But he was lying - he felt like he had just lost a great weight off his chest. Aang might think him even weaker than before, now, and he might pity him, but at least he _knew_.

So he wrapped his arms around his knees and sat and waited. He wasn't angry any more, he was just tired. Tired of working on his own for so long, tired of pushing people away for the sake of his father's impossible expectations. 

Aang's voice is quiet and his heat and weight on the bed was somehow reassuring. 

"I knew you must have had a reason for why you were always chasing me, but I thought it was just like all the others."

There is a long pause in which an entire conversation goes unspoken. 

"I'm sorry for getting mad at you right after you saved Appa. I was so happy when I found him that I cried."

Zuko stayed silent, still. 

"Your uncle, I really think he loves you a lot. You're lucky to have someone like him to take care of you."

If he hadn't cried all his tears before now he would have started again then. His voice was raspy and low with horror. 

"I betrayed Uncle. For my _sister_. And she always lies. Always. I wanted so much to believe her that I forgot all about how Uncle took care of me..."

"At least you didn't lock yourself into a iceberg while the Fire Nation took over the world instead of keeping the world in balance like you were supposed to."

And somehow that is impossibly funny and he gives a weak little laugh that you echo and pretty soon you're both lying on your backs, facing opposite directions, but both staring at the dirty-white ceiling, gasping for breath. 

It feels like you haven't laughed like that in ages. 

---

He started sitting with Zuko at lunch, dragging his new friends along. He felt like the token "dark" character in their groups, but he forced himself to go along with it. Uncle would have told him to take advantage of the opportunities that were given to him and he wanted to go back to the home world able to apologize to Iroh's face. 

He joined the soccer club and it wasn't firebending, but it would do. The guys on the team were a little in awe of the crazy new student at first, but once he made a suitable fool of himself and didn't kill someone they eased up a bit. Competition was something Zuko was used to and even though it cut back on the time he had to work, it was _fun_. Aang must have been rubbing off.

Aang was a pretty bad tutor, but managed to get across the basics in math and that's enough to get Zuko started, which didn't stop him from hating it. Class got a lot more interesting when one actually paid attention, but some teachers remained stupid. His _Hamlet_ essay got the top marks in the class.

He began to limit his smoking to moments of serious irritation, but still carried the lighter around with him everywhere. It was something to have his fingers fiddle with and it really intimidated people to think that he was some kind of pyro.

They found an abandoned warehouse, reputed to be haunted, in which Zuko did his best to teach Aang the basics of fire-bending. It only took a little bullying to convince Aang that it wasn't the art of evil - it just meant giving yourself over to something more powerful than you. Letting it feed off your emotions. And Zuko was teaching this boy knowing full well that with a few weeks practice under a master he would be better than anyone else in the world, let alone little Prince Zuko. 

An irritating number of girls came to gawk at the cafe where they worked evenings and weekends, so he foisted them off on Aang. He wasn't really interested. They thought that the Avatar was cuter, but it was Zuko to whom they left embarrassing love letters. Some of them were even from their school. But, so long as they were paying, he couldn't chase them away no matter how annoying they were. 

And just when he was finding a name for his awkward distaste for female sexuality, just when he was settling in and resigning himself to being the butt of Aang's jokes for the rest of his life, he stepped out of the front door of the apartment in his uniform, ready to go to school, and grabbed Aang's arm to make sure he hadn't forgotten his key _again_ he felt a hauntingly familiar pull and saw a flash of impossible darkness. This time, he wasn't sure he wanted to wake up.

---

But they did. 

There was dust everywhere when they landed, hard, against the ground. When Zuko's head cleared enough to attempt thought, the first thing he heard was "Zuko, you're hurting my arm."

His hand was still in a death-grip on the light muscle of Aang's arm. He let go immediately.

"Oh."

As the dust cleared voices emerged. The Water-tribe girl, yelling for Aang. The almost-mad laughter of his sister. And one voice in particular. 

"Zuko!"

"Uncle!"

His mind spun to catch up as a larger-than-life figure came barreling through the dust cloud to pull him to his chest. 

"You stupid - stupid boy!"

And, finally, you remembered why you had blacked out in the first place. That lightning-bending. Passing the lightning through both his and the Avatar's body in the same move that his Uncle had used so many long months ago, decided in a split-second of instinct. 

But what had happened to all that time in between? Would Aang even remember?

There wasn't time to think about it. Azula was not going to wait. The blue-white fire streaked through the dust and everyone was scattering. This time, though, he knew which side he was on, and he was there for all the right reasons. 

When they cornered her once again, it was almost exactly the same as before, except for one difference: she wasn't going to get away. There was nowhere to run. Settled into his stance, he looked over his shoulder and quirked a smile at the tattooed boy standing beside him. 

"Ready to go, roomie?" Aang asked, that fierce determination hardening his eyes and stiffening his smile. 

Zuko felt the pain of the loss of his honour all over again when he looked at his sister, but something had bloomed inside him to replace it that hadn't been there before.

"Let's go."

And the Avatar knew all four elements. Earth, Air, Water, and Fire.

---

THE END

---  
Omake  
---

"No. More. Tea."

Zuko's teeth grated together as he slammed the tray he had been carrying for the past two hours onto the counter and ripped off his apron. They had been sitting there for _hours_, drinking tea and talking about what had happened when Aang and he had been struck by lightning. No one would let him say anything and every time he opened his mouth to say something they would send him back for more tea.

"Now, now, nephew, you must show our customers proper respect."

Zuko glared down his uncle, knowing that if this was a serious argument he would have caved long ago. He owed his uncle too much. 

"They aren't customers. They're not paying!"

His hair fell into his face. Scowling, he blew it out of the way impatiently, but it only stuck to his forehead again. It was at this annoying middle length that made him want to shave it all off again if he didn't know he'd regret it later. 

"He's the one who will bring balance to the entire world! You can spare a little tea!"

"I saved his life!"

And, of course, Aang had to pipe up.

"Well, you've tried to kill me quite a few times, so I think it evens out."

Flames erupted from his clenched fists, but no one seemed rather disturbed. 

"What is wrong with you people?!" he screamed, furious at being ignored.

"Well, you're one of the good guys now," Sokka explained patiently through a mouthful of pastry, spraying the detritus onto Zuko's apron. "You can't hurt anyone."

Throwing up his hands in exasperation, Zuko gave up. "You're all crazy," he pronounced, dropped down into a chair, and put his head down on his arms. 

"There, there," Katara appeased, patting his shoulder sympathetically. "You'll get used to it." 

He could only moan in pain at the thought of it. He would have been better off staying evil.   



End file.
